Arabian
Arabians Over Fences at Scottsdale
By Priscilla Dance
Mar 27, 2006, 09:54

Jacqueline Stephenson of Alberta, Canada, guided BTA Intrigues Finesse+ to the win the Gambler’s choice at the Scottsdale Arabian show. After the whistle, they had 1540 points and opted to jump the Joker fence.

“We needed more points,” she said.

They got the 13’3” mare as a two-year-old. She was so small the breeders didn’t want her.

“She has good blood lines,” she said. “I got her as a resale project. In the beginning, I didn’t like her. My sister and mother said “why don’t you just sit on her”. I fell in love with her. We spent the past year working on dressage to build up her hind end for jumping. She tries harder than anyone else. We do jumpers and three day eventing. I’m going to take her Preliminary (eventing). Her heart is the best thing about her. She comes up to these fences almost over her head and she’ll say “okay” and try it.”
The mare, Pony Jumper Champion in 2004 at Spruce Meadows, does everything from herding cows to participating in games. This year, they used her at the Prince Phillip Games where her speed made her one of the favorites.

Stephenson’s mother sat her on a horse when she was “a baby”. They drove to Scottsdale from Alberta, leaving their thirty other horses at home. Her mother and two godmothers drove straight through. The mare had never seen desert landscape.
“She was pretty shocked to see the cactus,” she said. “She saw cactus, stopped, and looked for five minutes.”
Angelique Anthony and the Russian Roulett Foundation sponsored the $5000 Gambler’s Choice. She named the foundation after her famous purebred Arabian show jumper. Russian Roulett shows on the open circuit and has won against all types of opponents including Thoroughbreds and warmbloods.
“He has a better wardrobe than I do,” she said. “He is the only horse with a Bedouin halter on the open circuit. Warmblood people ask me where they can buy “bling, bling” like that for their horse.”

Anthony discovered what a great jumper she had when Russian Roulett jumped out of the paddock from a standstill “on a regular basis”.

“He has no fear,” she said. “He loves to jump. Put him to a fence and he’ll go forward, with his tail up and his ears forward. He should have been an eventing horse but he hates dressage.”
Russian Roulett is her first – and only – horse. Her friend, Dade Bozievich owner of Chopmist Arabians, gave her the horse when he was two.

“I had ridden, but I never owned a horse,” Anthony said. “When we were vacationing on the island of Sardinia, they were filming the Black Stallion. I called Dade and said I saw the most beautiful horse in the world. She said “that’s an Arabian; that’s what I breed”. Dade sent him to me as a gift.”

Anthony and Tanya Missureli, awards coordinator for the show are friends. Anthony wanted to encourage Arabian jumping.

“I had a conversation with Tanya,” she said. “What would happen if we had big money for the jumpers? I donated $5000. For the people involved in Arabian jumping, I want to show them there’s something at the other end. Arabians are great jumpers and I think that everybody forgot that.”

The event helped to show that bloodlines do count. BTA Intrigues Finesse+ is related to Russian Roulett; they are both grandchildren of Muscat.

Emily Brown and Granites Valisa +/ were second in the Gambler’s Choice; they went just before Stephenson and with a score of 1845 opted not to jump the 500 point Joker fence. The pair had already won the ATR Jumper championship. In the past, they had won both the hunter and jumper championships.

“We’re focusing more on jumpers and not doing hunters any more,” she said. Actually we event. Teri Buzan is my trainers and we’re doing more jumper stuff. We’re questioning her with really tight turns and different cross country fences.”

Brown is trying to get the mare bred; she is an Arabian/Irish Draft cross.

“She’s such a sound-minded horse,” she said. “She loves to jump.”

Jill DeLozier’s junior riders were successful in the hunter and jumper arena. Rachel Uliano and Crown Magic won almost everything they tried. The 16’1” hand purebred won the JTR Purebred Hunter Over Fences, Hunter Hack Equitation Over Fences, and the AHA medal, a qualifier for the Nationals for the next two years. He was in the top ten in Sport Horse Under Saddle, ATR; there were 29 horses in the class. She’s had him for 3 _ years.

“We work on consistency – on perfecting everything,” she said. “We’ve got our distance and striding. He’s very consistent and listens. He has good ground manners and a great personality.”
Rachel’s mother, Tracy, says that she has wanted to ride since she was little.

“We didn’t live in an area where people had horses,” she said. “She played with Breyer horses; her whole room was set up like a barn.”

After they moved into Arizona they bought Velvet Star, a little Welsh/Arab pony. Rachel took lessons once a week and went on trail rides.

“She called the pony “rocket pony”,” said Tracy. “She taught her how to ride and stay on. They nicknamed her Velvet GT.”
But Rachel needed a registered horse to show at the Arabian shows so they sold the pony and bought Magic.

“Magic didn’t jump at first,” Rachel said. “We did dressage and Hunter Pleasure. He got the high point in dressage. We learned to jump. He really can do anything. I love my horse. He is just always there. He’s got such personality. I’m proud of what I do. Other people say “I’m a soccer champion”. I say “I ride”. This is what I live for.”

Now the Ulianos have two other horses at home and the whole family rides.

“We do it because she loves doing it,” said Tracy. “It’s better than hanging out at the mall. She gets straight As, is in the National Honor Society. She goes to school, does homework, and rides.”
Rachel prefers riding hunters.

“I’m a perfectionist and you have to be perfect with the hunters,” she said. “It has to be smooth and pleasing to the eye. It has to be a completely pretty picture.”

Stable mate Arianna Picciotti disagrees.

“I love to ride in jumpers,” she said. “You’re not judged on the way you look; just get over the fence. You do tight turns. In the hunter classes, you’re not flying around fast. It’s formal. You go into the corners and keep the horse’s head down.”

She and Great Xspattation won the Arabian Jumpers, ATR stakes class. She’s been riding the purebred for three years.

“We’re working on bigger jumps, better distances, tighter turns, and getting his head down for the hunters,” she said. “I try to learn from my mistakes. I watch myself on video. It helps me a lot. For example, I saw that sometimes my leg slips back over a jump. I like jumpers more. I love the feeling on the animal. There is a connection going through the air. There is no other feeling like that. He loves being ridden, loves jumping and can go really fast.”
Kylie Silver rode Dal Basandi (Bazi). He got two firsts and the championship in the half Arabian Hunter, JTR. They’ve had the twenty-year-old gelding for four years.

“A friend of ours had him in the field,” she said. "He won two top tens in the Hunter Pleasure division. We do a lot of trail riding in the ditch by our house. He had done some jumping. You just point him at a fence. He’s got the heart of a young horse. He enjoys doing what he does so he puts everything on this table just to do it.”

When her parents decided to buy her first horse, she had a choice between a pony and a half Arabian. She chose the Arabian and has never regretted it.

“I love the Arabian personality,” she said. “When you look, you can see how sweet and gentle their eyes are.”


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